As Houstonians woke up to heavy rain early Tuesday, weather officials warned of an increased risk for wildfire growth later in the day. The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for the Houston area from 10 a.

A Red Flag Warning means that the predicted weather conditions, including strong winds and low relative humidity, could cause a fire to spread quickly and grow out of control.

There will be an "extreme" fire risk in 27 Minnesota counties on Monday as temperatures soar and strong winds arrive. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for Becker, Clay, Clearwater, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Wadena, and Wilkin counties from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday.

Windy, warm and dry conditions have caused the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for an area including Sterling starting at 11 a.m. today. Westerly winds of 10 to 20 mph could

Many counties in west central, southwest and northern Minnesota are under an increased fire danger warning due to warm weather and high winds, according to the National Weather Service.

Warm, dry and windy conditions have combined to make for critical fire weather danger across Iowa. A red flag warning is in effect through 8 p.m. for most of the southern half of the state, including Polk County.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings on Feb. 28 for Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Graham, Greenlee, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties.

The DNR will not issue or activate open burning permits for large vegetative debris burning during the Red Flag Warning, and campfires are discouraged.

With Monday's warm and dry weather, red flag warnings have been issued throughout Minnesota. Twenty-seven counties are considered at risk for fires due to wind and low humidity. "We turned our 50-acre hobby farm into a pizza farm,